Music Festival Commandments

Five Music Festival Commandments

Maybe you’ve been planning to attend a music festival for months. You convinced your friends it was something you couldn’t pass up. You saved up for tickets, waited for the lineup announcement, scrolled through photos of years before. Maybe you even travelled a long way to be there. No matter how many minute details you planned in advance to tailor your music festival experience to your liking, there are certain things that apply to every festival-goer across the globe.

Pop-lovers, ravers, hip-hop heads, indie-buffs and country music devotees alike: these are your five music festival commandments. Obey them, and the music festival powers that be will grant you limitless fun and memories for a lifetime.

1. Thou Shall Dance

Maybe you’re not the most coordinated person on the planet. Maybe you opted for science camp as a kid instead of spending hours each week at dance class. Whatever your reason for feeling self conscious about your moves--let them go. The people surrounding you at a festival are your people; they accept you and whatever inventive dance breaks you can come up with. The sooner you let loose and shake those hips, the sooner you’ll realize that expertise at a music festival is for the people on stage. You’re just there to soak up the sounds.

2. Thou Shall Pick A Meeting Place

Just like in the animal kingdom, unexpected events can cause a member of the pack to get separated. This can prove to be a very stressful situation in the case that cell phone service is unreliable or you, smartly, left your expensive electronics at home. The first thing to do when you get to the festival grounds is choose an easily identifiable spot that can serve as a meeting place in case anyone gets lost.

Tip: Don’t choose a small pile of rocks or a food truck on wheels. It should be a stationary landmark that you know will be there no matter what. That way you can convene easily and celebrate by hitting the next act as a group--just like you planned.

3. Thou Shall Hydrate

A music festival is a marathon, not a sprint. Drink liquids early, and drink them often. It’s much easier to pack in the hydration in advance, because once your body starts to get tired, your lips start to get dry, and your head starts to ache you’re going to be backpedalling to refresh instead of powering full speed ahead to watch Kanye perform new songs off Yeezus that only you and the other people at the festival get to hear. Wouldn’t want to miss that for some easily avoidable dehydration, would you?

4. Thou Shall Go with the Flow

Some things are out of your control. Musicians have to cancel appearances at the last minute, your clumbsy friend trips and needs an escort to the infirmary, or--worst of all--it rains. Don’t get twisted into a frenzy about things that you can’t change. Just accept them for part of the crazy whirlwind that is a music festival and laugh about it. Dancing in the rain with thousands of people to your favorite songs might actually end up being the best part of the entire experience.

5. Thou Shalt Not Spend the Entire Time on Your Phone

Sure, it’s acceptable to snap a couple photos to remind yourself (and all your Instagram followers) that you were there. However it is not acceptable to watch the opening acts, headliners, crowd reactions and bathroom lines through the tiny screen on your phone. This is about living in the now! Open your eyes and stare straight ahead--we promise, the view is a thousand times better.